Chapter 95 Goodbye Duan De
After practicing in the uninhabited wilderness for several days, Li Zhi had digested all his gains from the Burial Land World.

At the same time, he cultivated the kidney's divine storage to a perfect state.

By comprehending the scriptures of the Dao Palace Volume of "The Western Emperor Sutra", he gained a deeper understanding of the practice of the Dao Palace Volume of "The Xiantian Changsheng Gong".

The palaces within the divine treasure house not only became more solid, but mysterious Dao runes also emerged on those palaces, which seemed to be able to better nurture Dao power and further strengthen the divinity of the gods in the Dao palace.

The Great Emperor's scriptures are indeed profound and extensive.

The Taoist volume of "The Innate Longevity Technique" takes a different approach, which is to enhance the divinity of the Taoist gods by deriving the gods' companion immortal trees.

The Dao Palace volume of the "Western Emperor Sutra" truly explains the true meaning of the word "Dao Palace" in the Dao Palace secret realm from its origin.

The Taoist Palace is like the sky, giving birth to five palaces and nurturing the five energies. Each palace can carry endless Taoist power.

Some ancient books record that "Tao I" and "Shining I" both live in the Taoist Palace, capturing the traces of the Tao of heaven and earth, comprehending the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, and chanting the true words of the Tao. Therefore, mysterious chanting sounds will inexplicably be heard in the Taoist Palaces of some powerful cultivators.

This is a manifestation of the deep accumulation of Taoism. The more grand and mysterious the chanting sounds in the Taoist palace are, the deeper a cultivator's understanding of the Tao is.

Some people also say that there is no such thing as "Dao I" or "Dead I" in the Dao Palace, and the chanting of scriptures is just the Dao Palace gods chanting scriptures to realize the Tao. Each Dao Palace god actually represents a true destiny of the cultivator, plus his own true destiny, that is, six true destinies, and the six reincarnations are derived from the theory of six true destinies.

The nature of Tao can be enhanced through the reincarnation of true destiny within the body.

Of course, all the above explanations have their reasons, but they only explain part of the truth of the Taoist Palace Secret Realm and cannot be regarded as the truth.

The "Western Emperor Sutra" is worthy of being known as the number one scripture in the secret realm of the Taoist Palace. Its explanation and understanding of the Taoist Palace is indeed superior to that of the "Innate Longevity Art".

But as far as maintaining life is concerned, the "Xiantian Changsheng Gong" is not inferior to the "Western Emperor Sutra" in any way.

The companion fairy tree, this method evolved not for enlightenment, not for fighting, but for longevity, can even be compared with the "Western Emperor Sutra" in terms of cultivating nature.

This is especially true when the form of the companion fairy tree approaches that of the elixir of immortality.

According to the records in the Taoist Palace Volume of "The Innate Longevity Art", the companion fairy tree can capture the traces of longevity between heaven and earth, and bless the gods in the Taoist Palace, so that the gods have a bit more true meaning of longevity in addition to their normal Tao nature.

After comprehending the "Western Emperor Sutra", Li Zhi became extremely cautious in choosing a companion fairy tree.

The true meaning of immortality is also a kind of Taoism, and it is the most precious Taoism, which cultivators cannot comprehend on their own. Even the powerful emperors can only comprehend the Taoism of immortality through the elixir of immortality.

This was a kind of enlightenment that arose in Li Zhi's heart.

Ordinary plants are not qualified to become companion fairy trees.

Only the elixir of immortality, an extremely high-grade elixir, is qualified to be the choice of the companion immortal tree.

Otherwise, if an ordinary plant is condensed, it will not have the innate ability to capture the traces of immortality.

Li Zhi found out this after he read the practice notes left by Taoist Changshou in Anle Changsheng Residence.

Li Zhi was lucky, as he had derived the ginseng fruit tree and the ancient peach tree. According to this trend, the other three companion fairy trees in the divine treasure should be chosen from the existing elixirs of immortality.

Fortunately, he is now in the ancient star of Beidou, where almost half of the immortal elixirs in the entire universe are gathered.

To condense an immortal tree, it is not necessary to obtain the elixir of immortality. As long as one can obtain the branches, leaves or part of the fruit of the elixir of immortality, one can derive a companion immortal tree.

Of course, the companion fairy tree will gradually grow as Li Zhi's cultivation level improves.

Just like the two companion fairy trees he has condensed now, they look like fully grown elixirs of immortality, but in fact they are just in form. They need to grow over a long period of time and be fed by Ten Thousand Daos before they can truly exert the effect of the companion fairy trees.

There is almost no shortcut in this process. Even if he takes the fruit of elixir of immortality, he cannot shorten the process.

Because although the companion fairy tree is growing and evolving towards the direction of the elixir of immortality, it is not the elixir of immortality, but Li Zhi's own understanding of the way to immortality. The companion fairy tree is actually a tangible form of the way to immortality.

However, the only elixir of life in the world can bring immortality, so it is most appropriate to use the form of the elixir of life as a carrier.

Although it is a bit difficult to pronounce, the meaning is very clear. The companion immortal tree is the elixir of immortality as understood by cultivators, rather than the path to immortality contained in the elixir of immortality itself.

Of course, for Li Zhi today, talking about these things is still too far away.

According to the notes left by Taoist Changshou, the stage when the companion fairy tree really exerts its power is after it has been cultivated into a quasi-emperor.

After cultivating the Kidney's Divine Storage to perfection, Li Zhi did not undergo transformation immediately.

Instead, he left the no-man's land and headed directly to nearby Quzhou.

In the center of Anle Changsheng on the Medicine Mountain in the Hundred Herbs Picture, there are various cultivation notes left by the Taoist Changshou.

Among them is the method of utilizing the blood of the Holy Spirit.

According to the records of the Taoist priest Changshou, there is an essential difference between the blood of the Holy Spirit and the blood of ordinary strong people.

That is, the blood of the Holy Spirit can directly serve as a medium to communicate between heaven and earth. Whether using the blood of the Holy Spirit to refine elixirs or medicines, it is best to choose to do it in a special terrain, which can even achieve twice the result with half the effort in exerting the divine power of the blood of the Holy Spirit.

For this purpose, the Taoist Changshou even created a bloodbath method specifically for the blood of the Holy Spirit.

After using that method, one can, to a certain extent, receive the baptism of the myriad ways of heaven and earth through the flesh, making the flesh more friendly to the great Dao. It is even possible to copy the traces of Dao left by the strong in heaven and earth, or if one is extremely lucky, one can even obtain a scripture bestowed by heaven.

The more Li Zhi looked at it, the more familiar it seemed to him. Isn't this the secret of the immortal gold of the divine purple gold that has been refined to the spiritual realm?
After reading the practice notes left by Taoist Changshou, Li Zhi thought of the Yunduan Mountains in Quzhou.

Quzhou is not very far away from the ancient place of Yaochi, and it is only 20,000 miles away from the uninhabited area where he is.

As the place where the Henren Emperor practiced martial arts in the past, the Yunduan Mountains can definitely be considered a special terrain.

Two days later, Li Zhi arrived in Quzhou.

It was an oasis with a radius of three thousand miles. Looking at the entire Northern Territory, it was not considered a continent, and was not even ranked.

There is no major sect in Quzhou, only the Yanyun Sect is relatively famous.

But looking at the entire Northern Territory, there are so many sects of the same level as Yanyun Sect that it is almost impossible to count them all.

After entering Quzhou, Li Zhi went straight to the central city, Chaoyang City, which was a small city with a population of less than one million.

Chaoyang City, which has been built for a thousand years, can actually be considered an ancient city. The mottled city walls have left traces of countless years.

When he arrived at the city gate, Li Zhi saw the notice posted on the city wall by the Ji family and Yaoguang Holy Land offering a reward for Ye Fan.

After asking passers-by, he learned that a major event had happened in Quzhou several months ago.

The disciples of the ancient Ji family held a grand gathering for the young people of Quzhou in the Yunduan Mountains. The holy body Ye Fan suddenly appeared and killed eight true disciples of the Ji family and the Yaoguang Holy Land in full view of the crowd, causing quite a stir.

It even attracted the Ji family's divine body Ji Haoyue and the Holy Son Yaoguang to come to Quzhou in person.

Later, some local sects in Quzhou were held accountable by the Ji family and the Yaoguang Holy Land, and people were in panic for a while.

Until recently, news came that the Holy Body Ye Fan appeared again between Anzhou and Kunzhou, and killed ten disciples sent by the Yaoguang hidden elder lineage. All the talents of the Ji family and the Yaoguang Holy Land were evacuated.

Quzhou finally returned to peace.

But even so, many cultivators moved away from here, fearing that the Holy Body Ye Fan, the Huanggu Ji family, and the people from the Yaoguang Holy Land would come here again.

Quzhou is a small place with a weak population and cannot withstand strong storms.

After chatting with an old monk near the city gate, Li Zhi did not stay in Chaoyang City.

Instead, he asked him to be his guide and take him to travel around the nearby Yunduan Mountains.

The Yunduan Mountains are only 120 miles away from Chaoyang City, which is right in front of us.

Standing at the city gate, you can see the majestic mountains in the distance, which are steep and towering into the clouds.

Led by the guide, the two soon arrived near the Yunduan Mountains. Looking around, they saw a vast expanse of green, with large trees all over the mountains. The highest peak was six thousand meters high, with white mist rising and clouds swirling around it, looking very majestic.

This mountain range stretches for hundreds of miles, with mountains and rivers interdependent, gurgling dragon springs, and jade belts winding around the mountains. It is a treasure land for cultivation, but there is no sect in the mountains.

Out of curiosity, Li Zhi asked the old monk about this matter.

The old monk said earnestly: "Young Taoist priest, the Yunduan Mountains are an ominous place. It's okay to look at it from a distance, but don't think of taking it for yourself."

Li Zhi asked: "Why is such a beautiful mountain range considered an ominous place?"

The old monk explained, "It's not that this place isn't beautiful, but because over the past thousand years, three medium-sized sects have been established here, but they all perished. In addition, the younger generation of Quzhou recently gathered here and suffered a heavy loss. Even Situ Feng, a rare genius from Yanyun Sect, was robbed. A large number of geniuses from other sects also died. This place is simply a devil's land."

Li Zhi said, "Old man, can you show me the environment of this mountain range? Is it really as full of demonic nature as you said?"

The old monk sighed and said, "Young Taoist priest, being young and hot-tempered and curious is not a good thing. We monks should know ourselves. As far as I know, seven or eight out of ten young people who are young and hot-tempered and curious will die because of this. We have heard the saying that there are always people who are better than us, but who can really put it into practice? Young Taoist priest, logically speaking, you are a monk, you should be calm and peaceful. Don't learn from those laymen, or you will die."

Li Zhi said: "Thank you, old man. I am just here to visit the ancient monuments. I will not do anything here."

Upon seeing this, the old monk smiled and said, "Listening to advice is not necessarily a bad thing sometimes. Young Taoist priest, from this point of view, you are smarter than them all." Then, under the guidance of the old monk, Li Zhi took a tour around the Yunduan Mountains and listened to him introduce dozens of scenic spots.

Finally, after Li Zhi paid the old monk a pound of pure source, the two separated.

Watching the guide who was only at the Divine Bridge level return to Chaoyang City, Li Zhi thought to himself, "Perhaps I can survive in this world by not fighting or competing, but that is the way of survival for ants, not for Nine Heavens Kunpeng. This world is far more cruel than you think."

Returning to the Yunduan Mountains, Li Zhi opened his Eyes of Life and looked for the best place for transformation by observing the flow of vital and dead air in the mountains.

But this look was not a big deal, as it led him to discover a robbery hole in the mountain.

Li Zhi flew over immediately.

After blasting open a piece of buried rubble, a deep cave appeared before his eyes. It seemed to be a cave left behind after a river dried up.

But before he could make any move, nine dazzling divine swords flew out of the cave.

"The world is in my sleeves." Li Zhi immediately waved his sleeves and tried to take away the nine magic swords.

However, the person who operated the magic sword seemed to have higher skills than him, so this move did not work.

"The Great Seal of Mountains and Rivers."

Then, Li Zhi threw a mountain towards the nine magic swords.

"boom!"

The mountain was shattered and the divine sword dimmed.

With a "whoosh", the magic sword flew back into the cave, and then a burst of angry voice sounded from the cave.

"Which bastard dares to ruin my good deeds?"

Li Zhi suddenly felt that the voice was familiar, and then he remembered who he was.

"Master, I have finally found you." Li Zhi immediately shouted loudly into the cave.

There was three parts of desolation, three parts of surprise, and three parts of sadness in the voice, as if he was reuniting with his relatives after a long separation.

The air waves surging out of the cave were paused.

Then a fat Taoist priest with a ruddy face and who looked to be in his early thirties appeared at the entrance of the cave. Who else could it be but Duan De who had not been seen for several years.

"Brat, it's you?" After seeing Li Zhi, Duan De was also surprised and immediately put away the weapon in his hand.

When he came to Li Zhi, Duan De looked him up and down and said, "I haven't seen you for several years. How come you haven't grown up?"

However, Li Zhi had no intention of reminiscing with Duan De. Instead, he said excitedly, "Master, have you found the entrance to the Ruthless Emperor's dojo?"

"Stop, stop, stop. Stop shouting, little brat. We are not from the same sect." Duan De looked at Li Zhi with a headache. He didn't expect that the properties of the dog-skin plaster remained unchanged after not seeing it for several years.

"Uncle Taoist priest, you are too cruel. You refuse to accept me as your disciple, and you also refuse to let me respectfully address you as the headmaster." Li Zhi seemed very sad.

"You little brat, you've become more and more shameless after not seeing you for a few years." Seeing Li Zhi's fake sadness, Duan De laughed.

Then, he asked, "How did you know that this is the ruthless emperor's dojo? It took me a long time to find this place."

Li Zhi said: "I bought the news in the Holy City."

He had indeed searched for information about various ancient ruins in the Northern Territory in the Holy City, but the news about the ruthless dojo was not obtained in the Holy City.

Duan De smiled and said, "You came at the perfect time, I was about to dig the road through, and you showed up."

Li Zhi said, "Uncle Taoist priest, have you really dug through the Ruthless Dojo? Then have you found the Taoist platform where the Ruthless Emperor sat? I want to undergo transformation on it."

"Your physique is so strong. I think you are not weaker than the God King of Ji family. What kind of transformation do you need?" Duan De looked at Li Zhi with some surprise.

"I just got some Holy Spirit blood and Holy Spirit soul power, so I was thinking about transforming again." Li Zhi said a little embarrassedly.

"What did you say? You got the blood of the Holy Spirit and the soul power of the Holy Spirit?" Duan De looked at Li Zhi in surprise.

"It's nothing. I encountered a lake of blood that was merging with the essence and blood of the Holy Spirit that was about to reach perfection, and a piece of land that sealed the remnant soul of the Holy Spirit in the fairyland." Li Zhi said proudly.

Duan De stared at him with his eyes wide open, even with his mouth wide open, unable to believe that this was true.

Li Zhi continued to show off, "Uncle Taoist, the life essence of the blood water in the lake is very rich, comparable to the water from a sacred spring. Do you want it? I still have a lot in my hands and can give you a few."

"Pa!" Duan De suddenly patted Li Zhi on the back of his head and said, "Are you trying to piss me off? If you have such a good thing, why don't you take it out and present it to me as a filial tribute?"

Li Zhi rubbed his head, took out a bottle containing the blood of the Ten Directions Holy Spirit and handed it to Duan De.

Duan De opened the bottle, smelled it, and showed surprise on his face. He immediately used his great magic power to start melting the blood of the Ten Directions Holy Spirit.

Finally, the ten directions of blood turned into three fist-sized balls of holy spirit blood that emitted a strange fragrance.

Afterwards, Duan De sealed them up and said, "These are really good things. You have done a great job, little brat. Next, we can enter the ruthless dojo without any effort."

Then Duan De said, "Quickly take out your holy soul power and let me take a look."

Li Zhi directly took out a ball of soul power sealed in the jade bottle.

Duan De looked at it for a long time, and then said in amazement, "Your luck is so good that even I, the Taoist priest, can't even envy you. But you'd better not use this soul power."

"Why is this?" Li Zhi asked.

Duan De said: "Although this is a remnant soul, the consciousness inside has dissipated, but the life mark is still there. You can't grind it up now. Unless you use a real imperial weapon to smelt it, you can completely grind the life mark of the Holy Spirit hidden in the soul power. Only in this way will it not have any impact on you."

After listening to Duan De's explanation, Li Zhi felt a little scared, but at the same time he was glad that he did not keep anything to himself.

Afterwards, Duan De returned the bottle of soul power to Li Zhi and said, "You are really lucky, little brat. I am going to take an imperial weapon from this Taoist temple. With the power of that imperial weapon, it is more than enough to erase the life mark hidden in this soul power. You can't use so much of this bottle of soul power by yourself. The rest can be regarded as my hard work fee."

Li Zhi was eager to try and said, "Uncle Taoist priest, let's act quickly."

Duan De smiled and shook his head when he saw this, then said to Li Zhi: "Follow me closely, don't take a wrong step. This dojo is full of murderous intentions. If you take a wrong step, I, the Taoist priest, will not have a chance to save you."

Then, the two of them followed the dried-up creek cave into the mountain.

Duan De opened up a safe "Sacred Road" inside.

Looking at the secret traces of the "Shendao" that were emitting terrifying murderous intent, Li Zhi couldn't help but have a deeper understanding of Duan De's methods.

After traveling for dozens of miles in the "Shendao", the two finally came to a barrier formed by interweaving traces of the Dao.

Duan De explained to Li Zhi, "This barrier cannot be opened by brute force. It must be dissipated by blood sacrifice. I have prepared several kinds of ancient blood, but with the Holy Spirit Blood you provided, those ancient bloods are not up to par."

Afterwards, Duan De took out a ball of Holy Spirit's blood and offered it to the Taoist pattern barrier in front of him that seemed to be full of magical power.

After absorbing the essence and blood of the Holy Spirit, those Dao patterns seemed to be full and quickly became quiet.

Then Duan De directly picked up Li Zhi and flew into the huge space in front.

It seemed to be the interior of a hall, but they did not enter through the main entrance of the hall, but instead drilled a hole in the back wall of the hall.

Inside the hall, there is a huge platform that exudes a chaotic aura.

Above the platform, a jar lid with a ghost face pattern that looked like it was neither smiling nor crying was floating above the platform.

Upon seeing this, Duan De immediately cast a series of mysterious spells to remove the jar lid from the platform, then said with a smile: "It's done. It went even more smoothly than I thought."

Seeing this, Li Zhi asked, "Uncle Taoist, is this the lid of the ancient Heaven-Swallowing Demon Jar?"

Duan De said: "Of course, and it is the essence. I will refine it after I have sacrificed it, and then I will melt the bottle of Holy Spirit's soul power for you."

Li Zhi asked, "Uncle Taoist priest, is there any danger in the hall?"

Duan De said: "There should be no danger on that Daotai, but I can't say for sure about other places."

Afterwards, both of them came to the Taoist platform.

Duan De was refining the lid of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Pot, while Li Zhi was studying the stone under his feet that exuded a chaotic aura.

It is not a chaos stone, but just an ordinary bluestone. However, because it is used as a Taoist platform by extraordinary people, the ordinary bluestone has become extraordinary.

This is the case with ordinary bluestone, so my own transformation will probably be extraordinary as well.

This place is just right, and Li Zhi's heart is full of expectations.

(End of this chapter)